Hilderthorpe Waitaki

Would you like to escape to the country for a week or so and stay on my small (7 acres/2.89 hectares) North Otago property and take care of my 3 Kaimanawa ponies, 3 horses, some cats, 6 alpacas and a hen for me while I go on a short trip home to Australia. I do have 2 dogs - a Labrador and a Golden Retriever but I will take them to boarding kennels for the duration of my trip.

My diet is 100% plant based and I don't smoke or vape. My perfect house sitter will be a non-smoking/vaping person (or couple *) who is/are happy to have a plant based diet while they are house sitting for me.

Although my property is relatively close to Oamaru you will need to have your own transport as I have to use my car to get to and from Christchurch airport (and take my dogs to and from boarding kennels).
Having your own transport whilst in NZ is essential if you want to see as much of the country as possible:

It would be great if you’ve had some experience with horses. My ponies and horses are very easy-going animals, and all you need to do is give them their breakfast and dinner and then let them go into their day or night paddocks. One water trough fills automatically but the others do need to be checked and filled if necessary.

If you love cats you’ll be in your element at my place. My property has been a magnet for stray/dumped/wild cats in recent years. I’ve made friends with and had several speyed/neutered and they’ve become part the feline family I adopted from a cat rescue organisation. All but 2 of the cats are ‘contained’ making feeding them and filling water bowls a quick and straightforward process.

The alpacas are very low maintenance and need just hay, pellets and have their water checked daily. One of them is very fond of people and enjoys being stroked.

The one surviving ex-battery hen no longer lays eggs but she is treated like royalty and is fed twice a day.

My house is a comfortable late 1920s/early1930s weatherboard bungalow. It’s surrounded by established oak, flowering cherry, Japanese maple and an assortment of native trees. Wood burners keep the house warm in winter (and spring, summer and autumn) and a wetback supplements the electric hot water service. The kitchen has an electric stove and microwave oven, toaster, electric jug and other appliances. Dishes are washed by hand in the sink. The bathroom, toilet and washing machine are in one room. There is a second toilet at the back of the house. Washing is dried on the clotheslines.

You don't need to do any gardening or pick up horse manure

* My preference is for one person to house sit but I could consider a couple in special circumstances. I have one spare bedroom with a double bed in it. There's also a folding bed available.

The property isn’t connected to the mains water system. Instead, water is pumped from a well to a water tank and then it's filtered and pumped to the house. Waste water goes into a septic tank which is emptied every year or two.

I recommend that the house sitter/s and I spend at least two full days together before I head away. This will allow the house sitter/s to meet the 'family' and get an understanding of their feeding requirements and the layout of my property. This has been factored into the date range shown in my listing.